The distance between Padan-aram and Mt. Gilead, where Laban was able to overtake his son-in-law, is about 300 miles. Although Jacob was traveling on camels, he couldn’t travel as fast as he might, if he didn’t have flocks of sheep and goats with him. A good day might be 15 miles traveled, if he pushed his herds.[1] If he was able to maintain an average of 15 miles per day, he would have reached Gilead in 20 days. Assuming Laban, his sons and perhaps many of his servants, together with pack animals and supplies, were able to travel at a faster rate, they would have left Haran and arrived at Gilead in 13 days, if they were able to maintain a speed of 23 miles per day. Add to this the 7 days Laban lost, before he could reach his campsite in Haran from where he sheared his sheep, and we are able to understand that he could have overtaken Jacob at Gilead, just as the text claims.[2]
Three days after Jacob left the campsite in Haran, Laban was told that Jacob fled with his wives and herds of sheep and goats. Therefore, Laban took his sons from where they were tending his sheep, leaving his servants to do that, and he pursued after Jacob, seven days behind him (Genesis 31:22-23), because it took Laban another three days to return from where he sheared his sheep to the place where Jacob fled. Moreover, he probably took another day to organize his pursuit, acquiring supplies and arming himself, his sons and what servants he could spare from tending his sheep. He also had to have spent some time searching for his gods, before he believed Jacob had stolen them. An additional day, added to Jacob’s six-day head start, seems likely, making it seven days before Laban began his pursuit of his son-in-law (Genesis 31:23).[3]
Some commentaries almost frown on the idea of God appearing to Laban in a dream, as though it was beneath the Lord’s dignity to do so. Yet, the Lord didn’t seem to have a problem with appearing to Pharaoh or Abimelech in dreams. Nevertheless, if God didn’t appear to leaders in dreams, as was the mode of communication between man and God at this time, how would he rule among men without doing so? Would he have forced Pharaoh, Abimelech and Laban to do what he wished? How would he do that without removing man’s free moral agency, with which God had gifted man from the beginning? No, one of the reasons why God is called Almighty God is because he is able to accomplish his will despite man’s free moral agency. God does not have to do away with what he has given mankind in order for him to accomplish his will for his servants.
With the above in mind, the Lord appeared to Laban in a dream on one of the nights he spent on the journey, while he pursued after Jacob. The Lord told him, as a warning, “…speak not to Jacob either good or bad” (Genesis 31:24). Literally, the phrase should be: “…from good to bad!” In other words, Laban’s language or behavior shouldn’t pass from peaceful to violence. If such a thing would occur, the Lord implied he would intervene, perhaps with the Canaanites into whose land Laban would overtake Jacob, and it wouldn’t go well for Laban and his sons, if that would occur. Therefore, Laban’s original plans for Jacob (cp. Genesis 31:29) had to be amended to the protest of the theft of his gods (cp. 31:30), which was discovered six days after Jacob fled, and three days into Laban’s wrath. Thus, Laban originally had planned to do violence to Jacob for leaving him, for he considered all of what Jacob had to be his own (cp. Genesis 31:43).
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[1] See my earlier study Jacob Comes to Haran, where I try to determine how long it took him to get to Haran where he met Laban for the first time.
[2] Since both Jacob and Laban traveled by camels, we must assume Jacob traveled at a slower pace than Laban, and the reason for such a difference in speed must be the fact that Jacob had sheep and goats to move with him, and they had to be given time to graze etc. if they were to survive the journey.
[3] The phrase is literally: a way (or a journey) of seven days. That is, not a seven days journey for Laban to overtake his son-in-law, but he pursued after Jacob, who was in the way seven days before Laban began his pursuit!
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